AN: So my laptop that has up to 61 chapters worth of this story is not working. :') Luckily, I have a lot of the chapters on this site already so I don't need my laptop yet and I can use my boyfriend's laptop to update. I hope to get my laptop fixed on Wednesday but if it can't be fixed (the screen won't work after I log in) then I can't get access to chapters 50+ I think. So pray with me that I get it fixed. :')
Chapter 37
Resolution
Natsu stood warily beside Lucy while she held Happy in her arms. They were in one of the hospital rooms in the castle while Meredy was being healed by mages. He made sure to stay on his toes in case Ultear chose to attack, though he doubted she would. The woman seemed completely distraught over Meredy's injury, one that she caused.
Footsteps sounded behind them and they turned to find Gray and Juvia approaching. Their eyes widened noticing that Juvia was walking on two legs, no longer sporting a scaly tail.
"Juvia! Your tail! What happened to it?" Lucy asked.
"Juvia's father turned her into a human!" the blunette answered with a bright smile.
"Your dad could do that?" Happy asked.
"Apparently! Juvia never knew until now!"
The former-mermaid then locked eyes with Ultear, who averted her gaze and hugged herself. Gray noticed and eyed his sister. As much as he wanted to trust that she could change, he didn't think it would be that easy.
Just as he was about to address Ultear, someone else spoke.
"What happened?" a familiar voice questioned as the door burst open. Everyone turned to find Lyon rushing towards them, his eyes wide and panicked while his fiancé was bleeding out on a hospital bed. Honestly, they all forget about him when Meredy was hurt and didn't think of contacting him.
The still-injured boy wobbled over, his brows furrowed. He then turned an angry gaze towards his siblings, demanding for answers.
"It was me," Ultear answered honestly, facing Lyon. "I meant to hurt Juvia but Meredy jumped in front of her."
Lyon growled and grabbed Ultear's collar, lifting her an inch in the air. "How the hell could you do this to her, Ultear!?"
The said woman's eyes pooled with tears as she answered, "It was an accident. I would never hurt Meredy on purpose!"
"But you would hurt your own siblings," Gray chimed in, narrowing his eyes at the two. "Both of you would." Lyon dropped Ultear's collar. "As Prince of this kingdom, I have to do what's best for my people. You two are banished from this kingdom."
Juvia and Happy frowned pitifully while Natsu seemed to agree with Gray's decision. That, or he didn't care either way. Lucy on the other hand stepped in between the siblings and shook her head.
"That isn't the answer, Gray," she stated.
"I have to look out for my people, Lucy. Both of them are threats," Gray countered irately.
Lucy furrowed her brows and replied, "They were threats! It's obvious they learned their lesson!"
"Even if they did, they need to be punished! They were going to revive Deliora!"
"What did I tell you before? I told you that if you have a family, you should hold onto it." Lucy gestured towards Ultear and Lyon and continued, "These two are your family. Is your relationship complicated? Yes. But it can be worked on and fixed."
Gray cursed under his breath, knowing that he shouldn't be arguing with the savior, especially when she was just looking out for him. Thus, he faced his siblings. Lyon faced him, his eyes filled with guilt. Ultear kept her gaze glued to the floor, seemingly in her own world.
Ultear formed tight fists with her hands as she recalled one of the many memories she shared with her family.
Everyone was seated at the table in Gray's castle. Since Ur was his magic instructor, they all were allowed to live in the castle and often spent the days together. Gray and Lyon often bickered and Ultear would tell them to stop being annoying while Ur laughed at them. That was their routine. One that made them content.
"As Prince, I order you to act like a dog!" the cocky Gray ordered Lyon.
Ur promptly bashed the child upside the head saying, "Don't be a brat. To us, you aren't the Prince, you're just Gray."
Ultear expected Gray to be offended but instead he grinned. "Nice. This Prince stuff sucks sometimes. It's cool to have a break."
"It sucks being a Prince?" Ultear questioned. "But you have so much stuff! And power!"
Gray crossed his arms and replied, "Well that's not all I want in life."
Ur smiled and rubbed his back soothingly. "And that's not all you have anymore. You have a family with us now."
"A family?" Lyon questioned. "But Gray and I aren't related to you and Ultear by blood."
"Family isn't about blood," Ur explained with a smile. "We are a family and you three are as close to siblings as you can get. You sure bicker like it at least."
The three grinned at each other, all happy with the arrangement. They never had siblings before, it was exciting to be able to have that bond now. A bond that was unbroken.
Ultear sighed as she faced Gray, determination glinting in her eyes. "I accept my punishment."
"What?" Gray asked, shocked.
"I've done horrible things, things I can't take back. I don't deserve to be here in the kingdom my mother sacrificed her life for when I melted her ice," Ultear explained, tears pricking her eyes. For a woman with such control, she sure was crying a lot that day. "I've been a terrible sister these past years. I don't deserve forgiveness."
Gray sighed as he shook his head. "Ur wouldn't want this."
"He's right," Lyon added. "Remember what Ur told us? She said that we're siblings. I know I haven't exactly earned the title either, but I am ready to repent."
"But I made you melt her ice!" Ultear reminded sadly.
"That doesn't matter anymore," Gray replied. "Ur isn't just ice meant to trap a demon. She's going to watch over us forever because like she said, we're family, whether you like it or not. You may have melted her ice, but I was the one that made her use the spell in the first place. We are all guilty of something."
Ultear was going to argue when one of the nurses informed them that Meredy was going to be fine and that she was waking up. The group rushed in to find the pinkette sitting in bed with a bright smile on her face. Bandages were wrapped around the wound, showing that it wasn't completely healed.
"Ultear! Lyon!" Meredy greeted.
"Meredy!" the two replied, kneeling beside her bed.
"I'm so sorry!" Ultear cried. "I didn't mean to do this to you, I promise!"
"I know," the girl replied. "I don't blame you, Ultear."
"Never mind that, how are you?" Lyon questioned.
"I'm fine! Really! Don't even feel it!" Meredy answered with a bright smile. "The nurses here are really good!"
"Juvia wants to say thank you for saving her," the blunette chimed in shyly. "You don't even know Juvia and yet you risked yourself to save her."
Meredy smiled and waved the girl off. "I did it for lots of reasons, not just you. I did it for Ultear, too. And myself. I wanted to choose a different path for myself."
"Different path?" Lyon questioned, arching a brow. "What do you mean?"
The pinkette faced her fiancé and frowned. There was no avoiding it now. It was time to come clean, no matter the consequences. Even if Lyon decided to never speak to her again, he deserved to know the truth.
"I've been lying to you this whole time," Meredy admitted, forcing herself to maintain eye contact with the boy. "When I first met you and started talking to you, it was because it was part of Ultear's plan. She wanted me to gain your trust so that I could help manipulate you into melting Deliora's ice because you didn't trust Zalty. And for the first part of our relationship, I did nothing but fake my feelings and lie.
"But then I eventually starting falling for you. I started noticing the way that you were so gentle with me. Even though you can be a little hard on others, you never once spoke harshly to me. And you were always so kind and eventually I began to mean it when I told you I loved you. Which was why I couldn't continue with Ultear's plan anymore. I couldn't when it involved you getting hurt."
Everyone in the room watched for Lyon's reaction. Lucy felt like she was watching one of the dramas that she occasionally indulged herself in. Natsu on the other hand felt like this was all useless chatter.
Lyon sighed before smiling at Meredy. "I forgive you. Even if our relationship started on a lie, it doesn't change how I feel about you. Making you happy is my new goal, Meredy, and I plan on sticking to it."
Meredy blinked back happy tears before throwing her arms around her fiancé. Then she winced and sat back in bed. "Alright, so this might hurt a little bit." Then she glanced at Gray worriedly. "What are you going to do with Ultear? Please don't punish her! She's been through enough!"
Ultear shook her head. "It's alright, Meredy. I already decided that I am deserving of punishment for the crimes I committed."
Gray sighed and glanced towards Lucy. "Why don't we let the savior decide things? I'm thinking whatever she chooses will be the right decision."
The blonde flushed when everyone's eyes landed on her but spoke confidently, "I truly believe that Ultear's had a change of heart. But like Gray said earlier, he has to think of the safety of his kingdom. So maybe… Maybe Ultear should be under supervision for a year. Oh! And you guys should have family dinners at least once a week!"
"That's so lame," Natsu teased with a smirk.
"Shut up! It'll help restore their bond, sheesh!"
"Juvia thinks that is a wonderful idea," the blunette chimed in.
"I guess it isn't too bad," Gray added. "What do you two think?"
Lyon shrugged. "As long as Meredy is with me I don't care."
Ultear felt tears of mirth prick her eyes. She did nothing to deserve the kindness she was receiving and yet here she was, accepting it. Nodding her head, she replied, "I wouldn't mind that."
Everyone grinned, feeling like everything good had been restored. Just to make sure, Happy dug in his knapsack and retrieved the book. Everyone watched as he flipped through and landed on the tale of Frozen.
Happy cleared his throat before reading aloud, "Princess Elsa was saved, along with her relationship with her siblings. They started with family dinners every Thursday but eventually began eating dinners almost every day together. The kingdom prospered and Princess Elsa never felt alone anymore and she lived happily ever after."
"It's done then!" Lucy exclaimed. "We did it!"
"I don't want to eat dinner with Gray every day," Lyon complained.
Natsu cackled and replied, "Looks like you do because the book never lies."
Happy laughed before flipping to The Little Mermaid and reading aloud, "Ariel's father granted her legs, allowing her to live with Prince Eric in his castle. She no longer felt like a stranger at home and instead felt like she truly belonged. Together with Prince Eric, Ariel lived happily ever after."
"Juvia is so happy!" the blunette squealed, latching herself onto Gray's arm.
Gray shook her off but smiled. "That settles it then. We've got our happy endings."
"Which means we can finally leave this snowy hell!" Natsu cheered, fire escaping his mouth in excitement.
"We should probably leave tomorrow," Lucy added with a frown. Even though the mountain was nowhere near suitable for her, she had grown to love Gray like an older brother. She even grew to love Juvia, despite their relationship starting out rocky and only knowing her for a very short time. It was sad to have to leave them.
"Do you have to leave so soon?" Juvia asked, feeling the same as Lucy.
"Aye," Happy answered. "The book waits for nothing!"
"We should get some rest," Lucy announced. "We've probably got a lot of walking to do after this."
With that, the group split up. Lyon and Ultear stayed with Meredy, Gray and Juvia headed to the latter's room, and Lucy, Natsu and Happy walked together to their rooms. The blonde stopped outside her room and smiled at her partners before waving and entering her room.
Lucy plopped onto her bed with a content sigh. This story had taken the longest to complete and was by far the hardest, but she did it. And she made new friends in the process. It was strange. In her twenty years on Earth, she hadn't been able to make a single friend. Yet in the month and a half she had been in Earthland, she already had plenty.
Lucy recalled the night before they got to Mt. Hakobe when she had first tried making a portal. She couldn't even remember her apartment, much less of the city itself. There really was nothing for her to return to. Did she even want to return anymore?
When Happy asked if she did before, Lucy said yes simply because she refused to believe otherwise. How could she choose a world that was dangerous and had her working her ass off over a world she grew up in? A world where her parents were? She refused to believe that she could actually want to stay.
But did she?
Here she had friends and a purpose for living. Back home she had nothing but a shitty job. For a second, the blonde truly felt like she could give up her life in Earth and stay in Earthland forever. She could stay with Natsu and Happy. But would they want her to?
She knew they were close, but would that mean they wanted her to stay with them? In the end, it didn't matter.
"My parents are waiting for me back on Earth anyways," Lucy thought glumly. Before, finding her parents was her biggest dream. Now it felt like it was holding her back. Still, she couldn't give up. No matter how tempting it was. "I will find them."
The sound of footsteps in her room caused Lucy to bolt up into a sitting position. In the center of the room was none other than the blonde girl that she saw earlier that day, looking exactly the same as before. No hair was out of place and her dress was just as well-kept as before.
The girl smiled at Lucy and greeted, "Hello again. It appears you've finished this story."
"I did," Lucy replied warily. Even though she had no reason to distrust the girl, she still didn't like not knowing anything about her.
"So my hint helped?"
"Yeah, it did. Thanks for that. Are you finally going to tell me who you are?"
The other girl giggled and shook her head. "I'm afraid I can't yet. Eventually I will. I wanted to let you know now that I will not be able to help you anymore. I also came to tell you that the next time I find you, you will have a big decision to make and you need to be ready by then."
Lucy sighed and asked, "Let me guess, you aren't going to tell me what this decision is until then, huh?"
The girl giggled and answered, "Yep! Like I said, it is a big decision, you need plenty of time to think about it."
"How can I think about it if you won't tell me what it is?"
"Believe me, you will whether I tell you or not. And sometimes it's best not to know beforehand. Sometimes our thoughts are best when we don't have to think about it. Well, I should get going now. Goodbye, Lucy! I'll see you again soon!"
"Goodbye, girl whose name I don't know," Lucy replied with a sigh. And with that, the girl faded away, leaving her with a whole bunch of unanswered questions. Getting under the covers, the girl decided she could worry about it later. For now, she was going to sleep.
AN: Happy endings for everyone. :') With that, the Frozen arc is finished! :D
Thank you to the reviewers: KawaiiSilvy, Shadow Joestar, Fin-Fish Jun-Tenshi, Grizzly98, Guest, ThatPixleDino, HollyDragneel, Lunahartz, Still-On-Hiatus, MissyPlatinum.